Such cryostats are used in order to cut frozen specimens with a microtome for subsequent viewing with a microscope. The preparations to be cut are cooled to a specific predefined temperature, the temperatures in this context generally being between −10° C. and −50° C. In order to achieve these temperatures, an appropriately dimensioned refrigeration device, with which a control system and a central power supply are associated, is provided in the cryostat.
To ensure a constant temperature, the microtomes are arranged in complexly encapsulated cryostat chambers, and the latter are correspondingly cooled with the refrigeration device.
The frozen specimens are cut using a microtome arranged in the cryostat chamber, and then transferred from the knife or knife holder onto a specimen slide and stained. A variety of staining methods can be used depending on the specimen being cut; the specimens on the specimen slides must pass in succession through different containers.
A stainer having several containers arranged one behind another is known from DE 199 18 442 A1. This stainer has proven very successful in practical use, and is optimized for a high throughput of slides. Because of its physical size, the stainer is set up at a separate workstation in the laboratory, and therefore not directly accessible next to the cryostat.
In practical use, the frozen and cut specimens need to be microscopically examined as quickly as possible. In order to ensure the requisite staining of the cut specimens as quickly as possible, simple staining containers are placed on the cryostat and staining is performed there. Since the containers are not directly joined to the cryostat, the danger exists that the containers will tip over and the contents will spill into the cryostat chamber. As a result, it is no longer possible to work with the cryostat, because a defrosting and laborious cleaning operation must first be performed.